The present invention relates to the field of magnetohydrodynamics, and in particular to its use for recovering at least a portion of the residual energy in the working fluid of a turbine.
The term “turbine” is used to designate a rotary device that is designed to use the energy of a working fluid in order to cause a rotary shaft to rotate. The energy of the working fluid, characterized by its speed and its enthalpy is thus converted in part into mechanical energy that can be extracted by the rotary shaft. Nevertheless, downstream from the turbine, the working fluid usually retains a large amount of residual energy. In the description below, the terms “upstream” and “downstream” are defined relative to the normal flow direction of the working fluid.
French patent application FR 2 085 190 already proposes using a magnetohydrodynamic generator in addition to a turbine for the purpose of recovering the energy contained in the working fluid of the turbine. In such a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the flow of an ionized fluid, when subjected to a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to the flow of the ionized fluid, generates an electric current between two electrodes that are spaced apart from each other in another direction that is perpendicular both to the flow of the ionized fluid and also to the magnetic field.
Nevertheless, in practice, integrating such a magnetohydrodynamic generator in a turbine is not without drawbacks, in particular concerning the arrangement of the electrodes and the means for generating the magnetic field in a flow passage for the working fluid of the turbine.